Provence Wine – more than just “Pretty in Pink”

We have been busy at Fine Wine Works, developing a small (but perfectly formed) list of International Wines to sell to our discerning clients along the Riviera.  Our company business plan (all those months ago!) was primarily to offer WSET Wine Training Courses to Yacht Crew and Wine Lovers everywhere and also to run bespoke fun events all based on Wine Tasting.  It rapidly became clear that all our contacts and clients assumed that we would be selling the stuff as well!  We certainly had no plans (or space!) to hold stock so have devised a low cost economic system of ordering Wines from our suppliers on demand. Place your order, send us your money, we’ll order the stock in for you and deliver for a small charge.  Simple huh! Just check the website for details and the Order Cycle.   
Well, things keep growing and from starting off with a hand picked selection of good value wines, mostly non French (sooooo difficult to find New World wines here, isn’t it?), we have now been asked to supply local wines too! So, always up for a challenge, it was time to unearth hidden gems from Provence and to set out to discover whether there was more to enjoy than just light, quaffing Rosé wines?  It meant of course, that we would have to set aside some time to go traipsing round the Var, visiting wineries, vineyards  and domaines and tasting an awful lot of wine……

First stop was Chateau de Chaberts, where the charmingly persistent Betty Cundall proudly shows off a wall jam packed with Awards and Medals from all sorts of Wine Shows and Competitions.  Insisting we taste through the full range, even though I was emphatic that we set a maximum of 3 possible listings (Red, White and of course, the ubiquitous Rosé), we discovered that there was certainly more to “Pink Wine” in Provence.  Matching perfectly with Mediterranean cuisine (imagine a platter of Griddled Aubergines, Stuffed Tomatoes, Courgette Flowers and Charcuterie), these excellent Rosés were full textured, creamy and refreshing and packed with pink grapefruit and redcurrant fruit flavours.  Not a compromise by any means, but when your head is saying Red but your heart wants something cool and refreshing, a well chilled Rosé absolutely fits the bill – look no further than the Chabert Cuvée Prestige Rosé 2008.   Visit their website to see the full range of wines, and I’m sure if you ring ahead, Betty would be delighted to show you round. www.chaberts.com

Next stop and the delightfully vague winemaker and co-owner of le Grand Cros near Carnoules, Canadian Julian Faulkner showed us round his small family estate. They work to a very tight and highly audited system of absolute minimal use of chemicals and fertilisers in the vineyard – some view this as an even better regime than Organic or Bio-Dynamic.  Since 2002 they have “Terra Vitis” status – an environmentally sound charter for vineyard and winery management.

In the tasting room, Julian explained that it was all still “work in progress” and although he has been in charge of the Winemaking for 10 years now, he still prefers to experiment each vintage to get the most out of his raw materials and to test out different winemaking techniques such as “micro oxygenation”.  He showed us a rather “Heath Robinson” type of fermentation vessel which he explained gives him the best of both worlds (punching down the “cap” and “pumping over”) to give him maximum colour extraction for his reds.  Intrigued, we asked to taste a few samples, and asked him to explain the philosophy and aims for each wine he showed us.   The star of the show was undoubtedly an extraordinary barrique aged Nectar Rosé from 2005 – yes a “mature” pink which dark garnet in colour, exhibited all the flavour and character of a complex red wine – in fact, if it hadn’t been chilled you would not have guessed it blind as being a Provence rosé at all.   Not sure if this one is going to be an easy sell, but I bought some anyway as we had some clients to show it to at a Dinner last Saturday.  I served it with a heavenly Pan-fried Sea Bass fillet with an Ecrivisse, Saffron Potato and Coriander Vinaigrette and if I say so myself – it was stunning!

Their website is a bit flaky and out of date – but I forgive the dotty winemaker as he is spending all of his time creating fantastic wines:
www.grandcros.fr

Helen Brotherton